#juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

[thicc-mothman]

its actually super fucking lonely not knowing anyone else with the same illness i have. ive only met one other person with it irl and were not friends we dont talk. i havent met anyone online with it (to my knowledge) and its so so fuckin ostracizing. ive got my fair share of supportive friends who can understand what i go through but no one who truly gets it. its exhausting.

[jiateen]

How am I supposed to love a body I’ve only ever viewed as a prison?

[lukahaslosthismind]

I'm sick and ill never get better

There is no cure

I'll be forced to watch my peers run and jump and play while my own body breaks down

Joints swelling and discolored the pain nearly unbearable

And yet I'm forced to bear it

I'm supposed to be to young for this

I'm supposed to have a healthy body until I'm at least 20

I wish I could get better but I'm getting worse

I'm falling and the pain is near constant

I'm going to die like this and never get better

[butyoucouldberadiant]

I’ve made a excel chart about my joint pain to help me know the answers to tell my rheumatologist when I see him next week. My mother is perplexed and says not to show him the chart I’ve made (it’s color-coded!!!!) because then “he’ll send you to a different type of doctor,” but I am genuinely puzzled as to how I am meant to consolidate 3 months of data in my head otherwise????

[rhythm-catsandwine]

Adding to this.....

Healthy people don't understand how frustrating it is when tests come back "Negative" or "Normal". It is not always a good thing!!!!!!!

Cus you know something isn't right, and your doctor(s) keep saying nothing is wrong or to drink more water, get more protein, lose weight or eat more vegetables or work out more. Then you know it is NOT that, especially the weight thing!!!!

Finding an answer can give enormous relief, and since physical and mental health are so closely related, it can make you feel better physically, too.

Then, you can research and join support groups and learn certain lifestyle changes that can help.

I don't think healthy people realize how for chronically ill people getting a diagnosis isn't sad or even disappointing for us, it's a relief and a vindication. So many people with chronic illnesses take many years to get diagnosed, and are told that 'it's just anxiety/your period/psychological' or that we're exaggerating or that everyone experiences that, so for us getting a diagnosis is being told that we weren't faking it and that this wasn't normal and it's also finally knowing what exactly is going on in our bodies.

I think many healthy people think of it as if it were them being told they have this lifelong debilitating illness, and they would feel awful because they are going from perfectly healthy to disabled, but they don't fully realize that we already have all the symptoms and impacts of said chronic illness and that we are just finally finding out the name, and that knowing what it is means that we have access to more treatments and more knowledge as to what we can to do alleviate our symptoms.

[mandytistic]

I'm eating an apple crumble

[harmeet-saggi]

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), also known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), is a form of arthritis that affects children. JRA causes inflammation and pain in one or more joints. The cause of JRA is unknown, but it may be the result of an immune system response gone wrong. It is not contagious.

[flamingo--ing]

hi uh, happy disability pride month

my doctors arent listening to me +insurance issues, and im in a really bad state

if anyone feels able and willing, heres my medical wishlist

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Z8N3WSK3ZLQ9?ref_=wl_share

thanks :)

[spooniestrong]

Tomorrow!

World Arthritis Day is observed every year on October 12 to raise awareness. Most people think Arthritis only means joint inflammation but, in reality, Arthritis is an umbrella term used to describe around 200 conditions that affect joints, the tissues that surround the joint, and other connective tissue. 💙🥄

[baravaggio]

Any followers who are considering filling the void in their life with a pointless masters degree want to do one about why it feels like everyone talks about wielding/receiving the strap but no one talks about good old fashioned tribadism

[thicc-mothman]

slams head againts wall dear god why does the rain have to make me hirt so much i love the rain why am i in pain from it please cant i just enjoy something for once

[luckyburgerz]

juvenile onset arthritis is so fucking humiliating sometimes. yeah sorry honey we cant go on that date that we've been planning today. yeah no its just that its slightly colder than usual and my immune system has decided that my hips have the flu. yes we're only barely in our 20s but i need the same accomodations as my grandpa after having extensive surgeries. fucking christ.

[whalien-flags]

Early-Onset Arthritis Flag!

I couldn't find a flag for it so I made one! Common arthritis awareness ribbon color is blue so blue toned flag!

[Image Descriptions:

On the left is a flag with 6 horizontal stripes that's colored from top to bottom as a dark blue toned grey gradient to a white stripe, then pale blue, and then a final blue stripe. There is a symbol on the flag of an outline of bones placed diagonally from each other with dark blue lightning bolts exuding from them. Flag on the right is the flag without the symbol.

End of descriptions.]

[tumble-tv]

Does anyone here take Humira? If so, where do you inject it? I've been on it for about 4 years now and do it on my stomach, like the lower half, but it always bruises bad and bleeds a lot. I used to do it on my thighs (was on it for a few years before i took another medication for a while, then switched back to Humira), but it's the same when I do it there. Does anyone else have this problem or am I weird?

[butyoucouldberadiant]

Question for JIA people -

I thought I was having a flare up on Friday cause all my joints hurt so bad. But then Saturday I had a sore throat so I thought perhaps I’d misread the joint pain and it was more body aches (even though it was in the joints 🤷🏻‍♀️). So, I looked up sore throat with JIA and the Internet said that was a thing (because it can cause swollen lymph nodes)? Which I have never heard? Anyway, that’s my only symptom apart from the joint pain, and I want to find out if I’m contagious cause I’m lonely and want to see friends. So, my questions:

1. Do you get sore throats with your JIA? If so, does the outside of your throat get swollen or no? Do your other lymph nodes also have to be swollen?

2. How do you differentiate a swollen throat due to JIA from one due to sickness?

3. When my pain is really bad my joints tend to also be swollen. Is yours ever bad without them being swollen? Mine are not swollen but my elbows are killing me, so.

[majaurukalo]

Let’s talk about looks.

I have rheumatoid arthritis and because of that I have this kind of eternal baby face/moon face usually associated with juvenile arthritis. Plus, I am very short.

I am also 29 years old and don’t show it. People are always eager to remind me when I tell them my age. They assume I am in my early 20s or even a teenager.

Now, someone might think that I am complaining about something nonsense because who in their right mind would complain about looking younger? Our society has internalised that being young or looking young is something good and positive, whereas looking old or - God forbid! - looking older than your actual age is horrible and should be avoided. I don’t have to say how that’s wrong but we’ll leave it to another post.

Tell me what you want but I hate it when people point out to me that I look younger than my age. Not because I think that being a teen or in early 20s is bad or anything, but because my younger appearance is related to my illness and not to genetics or the way nature shaped me. And I am always reminded of that and how people perceive me because of that.

Also, there’s always a difference between how people treat a grown up and a teen/very young person. I always fear that people won’t take me serious, that they will condescend me, think that I am naive and inexperienced because they think “I’m too young”. Not that it is correct to do that even to actual teens and young people, but it’s what some people do. Heck, I also worry that they’d ask me for my ID when I buy alcohol.

Make-up serves me to try to look a bit older.

Now, I know I still belong to the young side, but I am also a full grown adult (I surpassed the 25 threshold, the age when your brain finishes developing), I am a mature and responsible person who had some life experience and is not totally clueless.

So what I wanted to express is: can we please stop making comments about people’s looks? I don’t care if you think that looking young is a compliment. For some it might be, but still, don’t do that because you never know someone else’s story. I don’t care about looking young, I don’t smile when you tell me so.

There are plenty of stuff you can compliment me on. For example, I think I have a dope sense of style.

Thanks.